In 1993, TOOL flipped the script on heavy music with Undertow, their pivotal full-length debut that still sounds like nothing else of its kind. At once alluring and mildly off-putting; metallic yet also mind-bendingly psychedelic; intellectually prodding but even moreso viscerally seizing, the 10-song project built on all the promise of 1992's Opiate EP and laid the groundwork for one of the most singular careers in metal.
Even though the album is best digested as one full piece, we asked our readers (many of whom are diehard TOOL fans) to select the single best song on Undertow's imposing tracklist. The top five vote-getters are ranked accordingly below.
5. "Undertow"
"Undertow" is a quintessential document of what TOOL were at the beginning of their career. The album's title-track is a masterclass in tension and release, building to gnashing climaxes and then receding back into the shadows — and then back up again. The chorus is explosive every time it comes around, and when Maynard James Keenan unleashes those harrowing wails during the grand finale, you're guaranteed to have chills running down your spine.
4. "Swamp Song"
"Swamp Song" is actually more indicative of where TOOL would go next than many of the other cuts on Undertow. From Adam Jones' ASMR-inducing palm-muted guitar strums and psychelic soloing, to Danny Carey's nimble cymbal taps and the band's hypnotic groove, this wouldn't feel at all out of place on Ænima or Lateralus. Keenan's really going for it, too, with his bizarre vocals echoing between the channels; like he's haunting the crevices behind your living room furniture and slithering up to give your ankles a tug. Yikes!
3. "4°"
The sitar jangle that kicks this one off is a bit of a red herring; rather than a psych-y, mystical journey, "4°" takes TOOL fans on a rollercoaster of grunge-y highs and rumbling, noise-rock lows, jostling and jerking the whole way through. If you were still questioning Keenan's vocal ability by this point in the album, that note he holds in the middle will surely convince you otherwise. And if you thought TOOL could only do loud-soft thrills, just wait until the spikey jam they wander into at the track's close.
2. "Bottom"
We definitely didn't expect this one to reach the No. 2 spot — especially in a list without "Prison Sex"! Clearly, though, our TOOL-inclined readers appreciate the oddities of Undertow's polarizing centerpiece, which features a lengthy spoken-word passage by Black Flag's Henry Rollins that, to some fans, derails the flow of the album. We agree that it's a unique and haunting touch, and the way "Bottom" simmers before boiling over when Keenan rejoins never gets old.
1. "Sober"
Well, yeah, obviously this had to be the one. "Sober" was the first single from Undertow, and frankly, it's one of the few "single material" songs in TOOL's vast, decidedly anti-commercial catalog. In the early Nineties, though, "Sober" was a vital snap out of the waxing grunge hangover, injecting the liminal spaces between metal and alt-rock with a refreshing dose of heady, heavy but still oddly catchy weirdo-metal, which kickstarted the worldwide cult of TOOL as its stop-motion video took over the MTV airwaves. To this day, it's a song fans can reliably expect to hear at every TOOL show, and there's one simple reason for that: it fucking rules.
